Special Needs Cresteds

I just purchased two crested geckos that were labeled as "Special Needs" due to birth defects (caused by poor incubation temperatures).

The first, which I call Lemon Drop, has a small head, and a very underdeveloped lower jaw, resulting in a massive overbite.

The second, which I call Zig Zag, is a bit larger than Lemon Drop (I would assume due to eating more easily). He has scoliosis and a noticeable bend in his spine. His back toes are also slightly curled all the time.

Both are still quite young, and haven't calmed down enough to allow proper handling yet, which makes further examination hard.

I currently plan to mash up crickets and mix with a small amount of repashy for Lemon Drop, eliminating the need for him to chew/chase food.

For Zig Zag, I'm not worried about him chewing, but I don't want his scoliosis to worsen, so I'll be dusting the crickets in calcium.

If anyone had further advice for me on how to care properly for these geckos, please let me know!

Thank you for your time.

http://i58.tinypic.com/2pqlts6.jpg
Lemon Drop from below

http://i60.tinypic.com/2q8ro29.jpg
Zig Zag from above

Very pretty! I would imagine you treat them the same as others, with extra care and extra food/calcium available.

Extra calcium makes sense, but I'm still slightly worried. How should I handle it if Lemon Drop has problems eating? I thought that using a dropper/syringe to help the food into his mouth would work, but I'd like other opinions.

I really don't know/am not a specialist. But, my dude: Cuetzpalli is usually most active around 12pm-1am and later. I don't know about you but I am only up on weekends or days off at this time (so I don't watch him eat firsthand). I think that's usually when he eats, as that's when he's active. When I look at the food dish the next day there is less Repashy.

Is Lemon Drop already not eating? Repashy must be easier to eat than fruit/crickets, so I assume that's the best way to go. Did the previous owner/breeder/person mention anything? Lemon Drop might be smaller naturally from birth, not just the disability with the jaw. I would take the crickets out and stick to the Repashy for now.

I hope this helps in some way. ;)

Oh, in addition females are known to be a bit smaller. Though, I can't tell from those pictures their gender.

That makes sense. I added some repashy last night, and there seems to be less now, but since they're housed together I don't know who ate. I suppose I'll just keep a careful eye on Lemon Drop's weight.

Zig Zag is definitely a male. I'm not sure about Lemon Drop, but if he stays a bit smaller and doesn't develop male "signs" then I may separate them. Even though they're siblings, I don't want to risk eggs.

Thank you for the advice, Jared. :)

No problem! I hope this works OK and you should keep us/me updated with pics! On that note though, I have one more comment: It's generally recognized as not a good idea to house two males together. So, if yours are both males, this could also be contributing to Lemon Drop's issues...

Here is just one of a number of sites on this: http://www.freewebs.com/alliescresti...emtogether.htm

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We don't want Lemon Drop to get hurt more! :)

If I moved them into a 20 gallon tank with a divider, would that be sufficient for keeping them both safe?

I assume so. Again I'm not an expert. But, as long as they are separated they won't breed/won't fight depending on gender. I suppose since they have special issues that it would be more dangerous to climb... Yet, cresties love tall tanks to climb in, so the bigger the better, naturally. In their natural habitat they live in these awesome Banyan trees. So, they are used to having lots of tall space! I assume, the best thing for your cresties is to reinvent this experience. I mean even if they have issues they are going to want to climb. It sounds like you care and I'm sure you'll do the best to meet their needs! Good luck! Again, I would love pics!

Hi.

First off its great of you to take them in! In my experience however crested geckos with incubatio triggered deformaties rarely make it past 3 months old. Given the description of the second larger one, and the photos of the clearly deformed jaw I would be leaning more to a calcium defficiency from birth onwards resulting in Metabolic Bone disease.

In light of these disabilities I would move then both solely onto the standard repashy mix, and once a week icorporate repashy bugs'n'grubs into their diet. Other good alternatives include pangea and black panther zooilogical (again made using insect proteins.

Its not my common practice, but I may also consider using a 5.0 UVB in their setup. It may, or may not help with balancing their condition but it certainly wont do any harm so its worth taking the chance :) benefits of UVB are still unproven in crested geckos.

The one thing to remember is they will never get better. But you can make sure they dont get worse :)

It mas also be worth mixing a little liquid calcium e.g. vetark Zolcal with their repashy once a week aswell.

All the best with the little ones!!

Also with regards to gender. Sadly size isnt a good indication. The biggest crestie in my stock is actually and F2 generation female . The only way to know for sure is to sex them. If they are over 20g the males should have developed his bulges, so if theirs no bulges at this weight its a good chance its female. To be sure you can pore sex the from about 8g. The smaller they are the more difficult it is, but with a bit of experience it gets easier.

Given their conditions I would seperate them regardless. You need to make sure you know which one is feeding if not both :)

Cresties have been my main area of interest and study for the last 8 years so feel free to pm if you have any indepth questions or just questions on basic care. Im in the UK so may have slightly different products availavle to the US but knowledge should be the same :)

Apologies for typos, my phone has little buttons ;)

I definitely will be separating them. They haven't been fighting, but I want to keep it that way. I have a spare 20 gallon, so I'll use a divider in it.

The level of repashy in their bowl has been dropping each morning, so they are eating.

I know that Zig Zag is a male because he has indeed developed his bulges. Lemon Drop hasn't, but he/she is also smaller, so I'll just keep an eye on him/her.

Thank you all very much for your help. I'll be very sure to keep updates posted. :)

I discovered some small bits of substrate in Lemon Drop's mouth. I would think this is because he can't fully close his mouth due to the overbite.

Should I remove the substrate from his side?

Is there a good way to remove the remaining substrate from his mouth? I don't want him to swallow any.

If he is getting substrate into his mouth, I would switch right into the paper towel. Like others, I am not an expert, however, if you feel like he is ingesting the substrate, and would be worried then remove it right away. Its better to be safe than sorry.
If it has only a little bit in his mouth, it might be worth getting a small cotton bud, and wiping it off, or if it gets licked off by the gecko, it should be alright. A little substrate wouldnt hurt him. As long as he is pooing fine, he should be alright :)
Good luck with them- I look forward to hearing the updates.

Is there any updates on them?
I hope they are doing okay